


Mermen of the Gold Coast Season 1

by CharlieCecilia



Series: Mermen of the Gold Coast [1]
Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: AU, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Love Triangles, Mermen, Protectiveness, hurt ash, hurt lewis, hurt zane
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 12:02:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlieCecilia/pseuds/CharlieCecilia
Summary: In this alternate universe, Cleo, Rikki and Emma never became mermaids. Instead Lewis, Zane and Ash become mermen.Here is the trailer for this story:This is the link to the trailer for this story;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VwMeL7ZqW4&t=18sI have also posted this on the following:My other archive of our own account: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11538651/chapters/25906527Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/story/story_edit_property.php?storyid=11913186Wattpad: /www.wattpad.com/443201376-mermen-of-the-gold-coast-season-1-chapter-1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I hope you enjoy this story :)

It was a beautiful day in the Gold Coast, perfect for fishing. However, before Lewis got out of his house, he had to pry his younger brothers off him since the three of them wanted a piggy back ride. Much to the amusement of his older brother who was no help at all, he merely sat eating his breakfast, laughing and encouraging his brothers to continue tackling Lewis. When Lewis had finally escaped from them, and grabbed his fishing equipment, he made his way out of the house.

Lewis was walking down the path to his favourite fishing spot, when he nearly ran into his best friend Cleo Sertori, “Oh, sorry Cleo” said Lewis smiling sheepishly.

“It’s ok, you going fishing?” Cleo asked.

“Yep”, Lewis replied grinning, “want to join me?” Lewis asked.

“I’d love to, but Lilly asked me to fill in for her at the Juicenet Café today because she’s ill”, Cleo explained with an apologetic smile.

“Oh”, Lewis said feeling disappointed. He and Cleo had been best friends since they were five. They met on a school trip to a park, when Cleo had tripped over a stone and had fallen.

Lewis had helped her up, and taken Cleo to their teacher to get an ice pack for her sprained ankle. They later learned that Zane and Nate had deliberately put the stone there, hoping that someone would trip over it. They got a detention for their prank, and had held a grudge against Lewis and Cleo ever since. Lewis and Cleo had become friends because of the incident, and had grown close over the years and Lewis loved spending time with her.

“May be some other time”, Cleo said bringing Lewis out of his reverie.

“Yeah, that sounds good”, Lewis said trying to hide his disappointment by smiling widely at her.

“See you later”, Cleo said.

“See you”, Lewis said.

As Cleo walked down the path in the opposite direction to Lewis, he glanced back as did she. Their eyes met, and Cleo smiled shyly and quickly looked away. Lewis wandered what that was all about, she hadn’t acted timidly around him since the day they first met. Lewis shrugged, turned around and continued his journey. When he reached the harbour he saw Nate, he inwardly groaned Nate was always trying out new ways to make his life difficult. Lewis carried on walking, hoping Nate hadn’t seen him, but luck wasn’t on his side today.

“Hey Lewis, come over here I need your help!” Nate called to him.

Lewis sighed, he really didn’t want to face Nate but it would be rude to ignore him. So, Lewis walked to Nate feeling dejected.

“What’s wrong?” Lewis asked cautiously.

 

“The spark plug from my boat has been stolen, and I need to fix my boat”, Nate asked.

“Why do you need me? I don’t know who took your spark plug, and it wasn’t me I swear”, Lewis said with his hands up in a surrendering position.

“I just need someone to pass me the tools I need, and I know it wasn’t you who stole it Lewis”, Nate said.

“How?” Lewis asked raising an eyebrow at Nate.

“You’re not smart enough to pull something like that off”, Nate said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Of course”, Lewis muttered used to Nate’s attitude towards him.

“So, will you help me?” Nate asked.

“Yeah”, Lewis said against his better judgement.

“Great, just hop onto the boat”, Nate said.

“But I thought you wanted me to pass you tools”, Lewis pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’ll be easier if we are both on the boat”, Nate said.

“Ok”, Lewis said and ignoring the feeling of uncertainty got onto the boat. He turned around when he realised that Nate hadn’t followed him. Nate smiled maliciously at Lewis, and he realised too late that this was a prank. Nate pushed the boat, causing it to drift towards the sea. “Why are you doing this? You know I didn’t steal your spark plug!” Lewis demanded.  
Nate shrugged grinning manically, “Because you were just there Lewis! He replied and began to laugh hysterically. Lewis saw that some of Nate’s friends had joined him, they had all burst into laughter. Some were rolling on the ground, while others were holding onto each other to stop themselves from falling over.

“You’ll have to swim for it Lewis!” Said one of Nate’s friends.

“I was just trying to help you fix your boat”, Lewis shouted.

“Tell you what, if you can fix my boat you can keep it. I was going to get rid of the old thing anyway.” Nate said.

Lewis sat down on the boat seething with anger, he tried to think of happy thoughts to calm himself down. This method worked, and he looked around looking for oars. There were none. Lewis sighed, this day had ended up taking a turn for the worse. He couldn’t swim back, the boat had drifted too far out. He was beginning to panic, when suddenly from out of nowhere

Zane jumped onto the boat. Lewis yelped in surprise, “What are you doing here?” Lewis asked.

Zane didn’t answer, but held up a spark plug and grinned at Lewis.

“You stole Nate’s spark plug?” Lewis asked incredulously.

“Sure did, and look at what else I brought”, Zane replied and showed Lewis two oars.

Lewis visibly relaxed, “You’re unbelievable” Lewis said irritably.

“Hey, it’s not my fault – well maybe it is – but Nate swapped my glass of water for sea water which tasted terrible. So this is my revenge”, Zane explained.

Despite the situation, Lewis couldn’t help but laugh at Zane’s expression and how he had sounded so childish, Zane and Nate often played pranks on each other as well as other people.

“What’s so funny?” Zane asked giving Lewis a puzzled look.

“You”, Lewis said and was overcome by a fit of laughter, to Lewis’ surprise Zane laughed with him.

When they had finally stopped laughing, Zane’s expression turned uncharacteristically serious. “I’m sorry about Nate”, he said.

Lewis gaped at Zane, “You’re joking right?” Lewis asked.

“No”, Zane replied while looking down and fidgeting with his watch. It was clear that he was uncomfortable and not used to apologising.

“Apology accepted”, Lewis said causing Zane to look up in surprise and grin gratefully at him.

Zane got up and replaced the spark plug, and drove the boat around the harbour until he reached Nate and his friends. Zane turned the boat when he had reached them, which caused water to spray all over the group. “That’s for giving me sea water!” Zane yelled at Nate, and zoomed way on the boat, laughing with Lewis.  
While Lewis and Zane were speeding towards the sea, Lewis spotted Ash walking along the path having just finished horse riding. “Hey, Ash want a ride?” Lewis asked him.  
Ash stopped when he heard Lewis call to him, he looked uncertainly at Zane wondering why he was with Lewis when the pair hated each other. What surprised him even more, was that

Lewis was grinning at him, despite Zane’s presence which was very unusual. “Are you sure this is safe?” Ash asked anxiously.

“Are you my mother?” Zane asked smirking at Ash.

Ash smiled and joined them on the boat. While Zane drove the boat out to sea, the three of them chatted happily. Until the boat suddenly stopped, Lewis and Ash glanced at Zane who was muttering “no, no, no,” to himself.

“What’s wrong Zane?” Lewis asked.

“The engine has run out of gas”, Zane replied.

 

“I told you, this wasn’t safe”, said Ash starting to panic.

“Chill out, we can just use these oars”, Zane said holding them up for emphasise.

“Oh”, said Ash sounding sheepish and relieved at the same time.

Zane sat down and began to row the boat.

“So, what were you guys doing on this boat in the first place?” Ash asked curiously.

“It’s a long story”, said Lewis glancing at Zane.

“We’ll be here for a long time”, Ash pointed out.

“Touché”, Lewis said.

“Touché?” Zane asked raising an eyebrow at Lewis.

“What? It’s a good word”, Lewis said defensively.

“Sure, sure”, Zane said chuckling.

“Moving on”, said Ash trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Yes, moving on”, Lewis agreed and explained what had happened. When Lewis was talking about the prank, Ash glared at Zane jumping to the conclusion that he was a part of it. Lewis quickly explained that Zane hadn’t known about the trick, which caused Ash’s expression to soften.

“I wish you and Nate would stop pranking Lewis”, Ash said to Zane.

“Sorry, but pranking is a part of me and I can’t stop”, Zane said not sounding sorry at all.

Ash sighed irritably, “That’s no excuse-”

“Hey guys look, its Mako Island”, Zane interrupted changing the subject.

Ash and Lewis turned to where Zane was pointing. A beautiful sight met their eyes, it was a huge island filled with forests.

“Anyone fancy taking a look?” Zane asked.

“No way”, said Lewis shaking his head.

“No-one goes to Mako Island, it’s surrounded by sharks and is very dangerous”, Ash said.

“You’re just exaggerating”, Zane countered.

“No he isn’t”, said Lewis.

“Come on guys, where’s your sense of adventure?” Zane asked raising his arms in exasperation.

“On a permanent vacation”, Lewis replied crossing his arms defensively.

“Come on, it’ll be fun”, Zane said imploringly.

“To be eaten by sharks?” Ash countered.

“Look, either we go to Mako Island or we go back. And I don’t fancy rowing the boat all the way to the harbour right now”, said Zane.

“Or I could row the boat instead”, said Ash.

Lewis was staring at the island, “you know, from a scientific perspective it would be very interesting to explore the island”, he said.

“Come again?” Zane asked.

“It would be great for a science project to look around the island”, Lewis explained.

“Oh, I see”, said Zane.

“You can’t be serious”, Ash said exasperatedly.

 

“I am, listen I could take samples from things, such as plants, on the island and analyse them. Please Ash, please”, said Lewis.

Ash sighed, “Fine”, he said.

“Yes! Let’s go,” said Zane excitedly.

He rowed the boat until the shore of the island, (fortunately they didn’t meet any sharks), where Zane tied the boat to a stone and left it there. Ash and Lewis got out of the boat, and the trio set off. As they waked in the forests of the island, Lewis could hear birds and waterfalls.

After a while of walking Zane spoke up, “you know what? Forget school, let’s pack our bags and live here”. Ash and Lewis laughed at this comment.

“I second that”, Ash said high fiving Zane.

“But education is vital for future-“ Lewis tried to say, but was cut off by Zane.

“Yeah, yeah come on Lewis live a little”, he said.

 

“I suppose it would be pretty cool to live here”, said Lewis.

 

“Now that’s what I’m talking about”, said Zane happily and the trio high fived, and then continued walking.

Lewis felt calm and peaceful on the island, especially with his two friends either side of him even though they had resumed their bickering. Lewis felt like he belonged in Mako, with Ash and Zane.

“…my phone doesn’t have any signal”, said Ash.

“Oh, boo hoo. I’m sure you can live without your phone for a few hours”, said Zane.

“This is serious Zane, what if one or all of us get hurt? We wouldn’t be able to call for help, we’d be stuck here”, Ash reasoned.

“We’ll just have to draw straws, to decide which one of you two I’ll have to eat”, said Zane.

“That’s not funny Zane”, said Ash glaring at him.

 

“Why don’t we just try going higher?” Said Lewis gesturing to some rocks near them and effectively ending the argument.

The three of them began climbing the rocks, brushing branches out of the way.

“Ouch” said Ash rubbing his cheek, where a branch had hit him.

“Oops, sorry Ash”, said Zane smirking at him and again not sounding sorry.

Ash glared at him, “Sure you are”, Ash muttered sarcastically.  
After a while of climbing, they reached the edge of a rock, which faced another with a big gap between them. Zane and Ash jumped over to the other rock easily, but Lewis wasn’t as confident as them.

“I can’t do this”, Lewis said anxiously.

“Come on Lewis, I know you can”, said Ash supportively.

“And if you can’t, we’ll just leave you here”, said Zane smirking at Lewis.

“Zane”, Ash scolded.

“What? I was just joking, we wouldn’t really leave you behind Lewis”.

“Lewis you can do this, just jump”, said Ash.

“No, there has to be another way”, said Lewis stepping backwards.

“There isn’t-“Ash began to say, but was interrupted by Lewis’ yell.

Lewis had fallen down a big hole in the rock, he slid on his back down a natural slide. When Lewis had landed, he was breathing heavily still in shock from the sudden fall. After Lewis had calmed down, he got up and looked around and discovered that he was in what looked like a cave.

“Lewis! Are you ok?” Ash asked concerned.

Lewis turned around, and saw Ash and Zane looking at him through the hole with anxious expressions. “Yeah, I’m fine”, Lewis answered shakily.

“I’m going to check on him”, Ash told Zane.

“Wait, shouldn’t we call someone for help? What if you get stuck in there”, said Zane while grabbing Ash’s arm to stop him from going in the hole.

“There’s no signal on our phones, remember? I’m just going to make sure that he isn’t hurt, thanks for your concern though”, said Ash smirking.

“I wasn’t worried about you”, argued Zane and quickly let go of Ash’s arm.

“Yes, you were”, said Ash.

“No I wasn’t!” Zane said irritably.

“Whatever makes you feel better Zane”, Ash said patting Zane shoulder. With that he slid down the hole, leaving a disgruntled Zane. Even though Ash knew what was coming, he couldn’t stop himself from crying out in surprise. The slide down was very fast, and it took him a while to collect himself when he had landed.

“You all right?” asked Lewis offering his hand to help Ash up.

“Yeah, thanks”, Ash replied taking his hand. Once Ash had stood up, Lewis let go of his hand and got out his torch.

“You have a torch? Ash asked incredulously.

“’Always be prepared’”, Lewis quoted grinning at Ash.

A few minutes later they heard Zane’s yelp, and turned back to the slide and saw that he had followed them.

Ash helped him get up, “What are you doing? You were supposed to go and get some rope or something, to help us get out of here”, Ash said sounding exasperated.

“I just wanted to make sure you guys were ok, and what rope?” Zane said.

“He’s got a point”, said Lewis trying to stop another argument.

“I suppose”, said Ash reluctantly.

“This place is so cool, we should have a look around”, said Lewis looking at Ash and Zane silently asking for their approval. They both nodded, which caused Lewis to smile widely. They  
walked around the cave, “This is fascinating”, said Lewis.

“Yeah, very fascinating”, said Zane sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Ash who grinned at him.

“I’ve got to take some rock samples”, said Lewis eagerly putting down his backpack and taking out equipment. Ash helped Lewis take the samples, while Zane stared at them as if they were aliens.

“Don’t tell me you guys actually enjoy doing this?” Zane asked them.

“We sure do, this is actually very interesting you should try it Zane”, Ash replied smirking at him.

“No, thanks”, said Zane.

“Suit yourself”, said Ash.

Zane made a face at Ash, and began to look around the cave by himself.

“His loss”, said Lewis.

Ash agreed with him, and they went back to taking the samples. After a while Zane came back, looking excited.

“Hey guys, you’ve got to see this”, Zane said motioning them to follow him with his hand.

Lewis and Ash looked at each other, and followed Zane. Lewis was intrigued, he wondered what could have made Zane so excited, when he looked bored minutes before. The answer to that question was answered, by the sight that greeted him when they had reached their destination. Zane had found another part of the cave, about half of which was comprised of a pool of water. Lewis stared at the pool, it looked beautiful and made him feel even more peaceful than he had felt in the forests of the island. Lewis walked towards the moon pool, crouched down and put his hand in the water. He moved his hand around in the pool, feeling as though he were one with the water.

“This is amazing”, said Ash jolting Lewis out of his thoughts.

“Yeah”, said Zane for once agreeing with Ash.

Lewis looked up and saw that there was a hole directly above the pool, and realised that this was an inactive volcano. “He guys look”, he said pointing above him and voiced his thoughts.

“The volcano isn’t going to erupt, right?” Asked Zane anxiously.

“No, it’s been dormant for more than a thousand years. I don’t think it’s going to blow anytime soon”, Ash replied reassuringly.

After a while of exploring and taking samples, Ash spoke up “Hey guys, how are we going to get out of here?”  
Lewis and Zane glanced at each other with worried expressions, “I have no idea”, Lewis said.  
Zane shrugged and looked for a way out, he walked up to a wall of the inactive volcano and began to feel around for a secret passage.

“What are you doing? This isn’t an Indiana Jones movie”, said Ash.

“I’m looking for a hidden passage, there was a secret slide down here, so there might be a secret way out”, said Zane.

“That actually makes sense”, Lewis agreed.

 

“Thank you, and for the record I love Indiana Jones”, said Zane and smirked in triumph at Ash, who merely rolled his eyes at Zane.

The three of them searched the walls, but had no success.

“I haven’t found anything, what about you guys?” Said Ash, Zane and Lewis shook their heads to indicate that they hadn’t discovered anything either.

“Aw man, it would have been so cool if there was a secret passage out of here”, said Zane sounding disappointed.

Lewis turned his attention back to the pool, he knew there had to be a way out of the volcano. He crouched down again, and noticed that there was a tunnel that probably led out to the sea. “Hey guys, I think I found a way out”, said Lewis. He showed them the tunnel, and explained how they could swim through it to get out.

“Lewis, have I ever told you that you are a genius”, said Zane.

“Nope”, said Lewis.

“Well you are”, said Zane patting Lewis’ back.

“I’m not sure about this”, said Ash sounding worried.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Zane asked.

“Well…no not really”, said Ash.

“Come on then, you’ll be fine”, said Zane giving Ash a reassuring smile.

“But I can’t swim”, said Ash anxiously.

 

“I’ll help you”, said Zane comfortingly.

“Ok”, said Ash sounding unconvinced.

Lewis got in the pool first, followed by Zane and Ash. Lewis was about to swim through the tunnel, when he noticed a silver reflection on the water. He looked up, and saw that the moon was directly above the pool. Lewis pointed this out to the others, and they all craned their necks to look at the moon. It was then that one of the strangest events that Lewis had ever experienced happened. A whirlwind of bubbles leading from the moon came through the hole of the volcano, and surrounded the three of them along with a bright light. The wind that carried the bubbles, was so strong that Lewis wondered whether it would lift them out of the water. But to his relief that didn’t happen, instead the whirlwind of bubbles continued to surround them for a while, and disappeared as quickly and suddenly as they had come through the hole. Silence followed the event, the trio stared at each other in shock.

“You guys saw that too right?” Zane asked nervously.

“Yeah”, said Lewis and Ash nodded his agreement.

“Thank goodness, I thought I had imagined it”, said Zane.

“That was incredible”, said Lewis.

“Yeah, hey Ash are you ok?” Zane questioned Ash looking at him with concern.  
Lewis turned to Ash with equal concern, Ash had frozen and was staring at them not blinking.

“Ash”, said Lewis patting his back.

“Huh”, he said and blinked a few times, “oh sorry, I spaced out”.

“Ash, you scared me”, said Zane in a whiny voice.

“Aw see you do care”, said Ash grinning widely.

“What? No I don’t”, said Zane.

“Let’s get out of here”, said Lewis effectively stopping yet another argument. He swam out with Zane and Ash following him. It was difficult to swim through the tunnel without any goggles, but fortunately the tunnel was short and they made it without Ash freaking out.

“What now?” Zane inquired when they were out of the tunnel, and were in the sea.

“Why are you looking at me?” Lewis asked.

“Because you always think of something”, answered Ash, Lewis scowled at them.

“I did mention that you are a genius right?” Said Zane nudging Lewis’ arm.

Lewis’ eyes lit up, and he began to think. Zane and Ash grinned at each other, and high fived.

“Hey, that’s your idea face what’s the plan?” Ash asked.

“We mustn’t be far from the shore of Mako, so we could probably swim there”, Lewis explained.

“I knew it, the boy’s a genius”, said Zane happily high fiving Lewis.

Ash coughed to get their attention, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He asked.

“What?” Said Zane.

Ash sighed, “I can’t swim”.

“Oh”, said Lewis.

“Well, I could…” Zane began, but was cut off by Lewis.

“Hey, look it’s my brother Lenny”, he said eagerly.

Ash and Zane looked in the direction that Lewis was pointing, sure enough a figure on a boat was waving at them. They waved back, and Lewis asked for Lenny to help them and the boat came towards them. When the boat arrived, Lenny helped Ash get on first because he couldn’t swim and was uncomfortable about being in the water. Lenny and Ash then helped Lewis and Zane onto the boat.

“What are you guys doing here so late?” Lenny asked incredulously.

“Can you please take as back to the harbour, we’ll explain along the way”, Lewis replied.

“Ok, here take these towels you all look freezing”, said Lenny.

The trio took the towels and thanked Lenny. They told him what had happened, leaving out the strange event that had occurred in the pool, during the journey back. Lenny told them that his and Lewis’ mum had sent Lenny to look for Lewis, when he still hadn’t come back late in the evening.

“Wow that’s quite an adventure, and I also wish that you and Nate would stop pranking Lewis especially as it led to this” Lenny said to Zane.

“Sorry Lenny, I’ll talk to Nate but no promises”, Zane said.

“Thanks for the ride back Lenny”, said Ash while glaring at Zane who mouthed “What?” to him.

“You’re welcome”, said Lenny.

After a while they reached the harbour and Lenny parked the boat and the four boys got off the boat.

“Lewis, you and I should get back home, I have signal on my phone now so I’ll let mum know you’re ok”. Lenny said and walked further away from them, to ring his mother.

“See you guys around?” Lewis asked Ash and Zane hopefully.

“Yeah, how about we meet up at the Juice Net Café?” Ash suggested.

“Sounds cool”, Zane replied.

Lewis agreed with Zane, Lenny had finished his phone call and motioned for Lewis to go over to him.

“See you guys tomorrow”, said Lewis waving goodbye.

Ash and Zane nodded at Lewis in confirmation, and waved back. Lewis turned around and jogged to Lenny. When they had reached their house, Lenny rang the doorbell. Their mother answered the door.

“Oh Lewis”, she said and hugged him tightly as if afraid she would lose him again, and Lewis hugged her back. When she released him, she stepped backwards to let them go inside. She then hugged Lenny, and thanked him for finding Lewis, Lewis’ father came down and hugged both him and Lenny too. His mother cooked him a late dinner, for which Lewis was very grateful, while Lewis ate his dinner he recounted to his parents what had happened and even though Lenny had heard what had happened he listened too. Lewis was so exhausted by the events of the day that after dinner, he went straight to bed and instantly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Lewis was jolted awake by his alarm clock which was set for 9:00am, even though it was the summer holiday and Lewis didn't need to get up this early. He was a morning person, and liked to work on science experiments or his inventions. His latest objective was to design a device that could analyse weather. With this in mind, he got up and went to the bathroom to get ready. However, when he washed his hands he felt the same strange sensation that he felt in the pool when the whirlpool of bubbles had surrounded him, Zane and Ash.

About ten seconds later, Lewis' whole body seemed to be made out of water and bubbles for a few seconds. He fell over backwards having lost his balance, Lewis groaned in pain. He sat up, and what Lewis saw made him gasp in shock. For where Lewis' legs should have been, there was a magnificent blue tail. Lewis began to hyperventilate, this just couldn't be real. He closed his eyes and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, when Lewis opened his eyes the tail was still there. Suddenly someone was knocking on the door.

"Hey Lewis, are you nearly finished in there?" Max, his youngest brother, asked impatiently.

"Not quite, just wait a few minutes", Lewis replied trying his best to sound calm, but inwardly he was freaking out. His mind was filled with questions such as, how did this happen? Would he be stuck like this forever? How was he going to turn back to normal? Lewis tried to think logically, if water had triggered this transformation. Then maybe drying himself would bring his legs back. Lewis looked around for a towel, there was one hanging on the bath on the other side of the room. Lewis tried to move himself towards the towel, but his tail was too heavy. He gave up and sat back down. "Ok, don't panic", Lewis whispered to himself. He instinctively reached for the towel, and it floated to his hands by itself. He stared at the towel in surprise, how had he managed that?

"Hurry up in there!" Max said sounding irritated.

"Just wait a minute", said Lewis he used the towel and his body became water and bubbles once more. When the transformation had ended, to Lewis' immense relief he saw that his legs had returned. He got up shakily, and opened the door to find Max glaring at him.

"You took your time", Max said irritably.

"Sorry, the bathroom's free now", said Lewis apologetically. Lewis was slightly annoyed because he hadn't been very long at all, but given that Max was only seven he didn't let it show in his tone. People often said that Max was like a mini Lewis as he had the same blonde hair and interest in science, which was probably another reason that Lewis didn't show his annoyance.

Max allowed Lewis to come out of the room, before going in himself.

Meanwhile, Zane was walking in his garden when suddenly the sprinklers turned on. Zane immediately ran back to his chair where he had been sun bathing, fortunately he was safe from the sprinklers on the seat. However, as soon as he had lay down on the chair he felt a strange sensation that was somehow familiar. His body suddenly turned into water and bubbles, and when the transformation had finished instead seeing his legs, Zane saw a tail. He yelped in surprise and fell off the chair, Zane grabbed his phone which had fallen on the ground and called Lewis.

Lewis heard his phone ring and took it out of his pocket. It was Zane, the three of them had given each other their phone numbers the previous night.

"What's up?" Lewis asked, his voice shaking due to his latest adventure.

"Dude, the weirdest thing just happened to me", said Zane sounding panicked.

"Let me guess, your legs turned into a tail when you came into contact with water?" Lewis said.

"What are you psychic or something, how did you know?" Zane questioned.

"The same thing happened to me", Lewis replied.

"No way, that is so cool. Listen I need your help, how do you change back?" Zane asked frantically.

"Use a towel to dry yourself", Lewis replied.

"It worked, thanks Lewis. How do you think this happened to us?" Inquired Zane.

"You're welcome. I think the only cause for this transformation could be the whirlpool of bubbles that surrounded us in the pool on Mako Island, and-" Lewis stopped speaking abruptly as he realised something.

"What's wrong?" Said Zane sounding worried.

"And there was someone else with us that night", Lewis replied.

"Ash", Zane and Lewis said at the same time.

"He might not have experienced the transformation yet, I'm going to call him", said Lewis.

"Ok, ring me back when you have", Zane said.

"Sure, bye", Lewis said and hung up. He rang Ash, but the call went straight to voice mail. Lewis called Zane back, "Ash isn't answering, we need to warn him", he said when Zane had answered.

"Do we have to?" Zane asked whining.

"Yes we do, he's our friend and what if Ash goes to the beach or touches water, he doesn't know the danger he would be in if he does", said Lewis.

"Oh, all right", said Zane.

"I'll go to his house and see if Ash is there", said Lewis.

"I'll go to the Juice Net Café, he often hangs out there", said Zane.

"Ok, I'll meet you there if he isn't at his house", said Lewis. He hung up after they had finished their conversation, and set off for Ash's house.

 

During the journey, he tried ringing Ash again but he still didn't answer. It didn't take long for Lewis to reach Ash's house, as he lived close to Lewis which allowed them to hang out more often. When Lewis arrived at his destination, he rang the doorbell. Ash's older sister Ally answered the door.

"Hey Ally, is Ash here?" Lewis asked.

"No he went out to the beach?" Ally answered.

Lewis gaped at her, "The beach?" He spluttered.

"Yeah, he wanted to get over his fear of water, and is having swimming lessons with Andy there", said Ally.

"Thanks, I'm going to go and find him", Lewis said.

"See you later", Ally said.

"See you", said Lewis. As soon as Ally closed the door, Lewis turned around and took out his phone to call Zane.

"Hey Lewis, Ash isn't at the café", said Zane.

"I know, Ally said he's gone to the beach for swimming lessons, we have to stop Ash from going into the water", said Lewis hoping Ash hadn't already done so.

"I'm near the beach so, I'll try to stop him", said Zane.

"Ok, I'm on my way to the beach", said Lewis.

"See you there", Zane said and hung up. As soon as Zane put his phone back in his pocket, he bolted out of the café not caring that he had ran into Nate and some of his friends on the way out. Zane didn't know how it happened, but he was beginning to care about Lewis and Ash. All that mattered to Zane at that moment, was stopping Ash from going into the sea. He ran to the beach, and frantically scanned the crowds of people for Ash and ignored Miriam who was trying to get him to come over to her. Zane finally spotted Ash with an older boy, who was gesturing towards the sea. Zane ran towards them as fast as he could, just as Ash was about to go in the sea Zane grabbed his waist and swung him around to stop him from stepping in the water. Zane let go of Ash when he was no longer near the water.

"What are you doing?" Ash yelled at him.

"Saving your life, you can't go in the water", said Zane.

"What's going on here?" The older boy inquired standing protectively in front of Ash, having assumed that Zane attacked him.

"It's all right Andy, he's a friend", Ash said.

The boy glanced back at Ash uncertainly, but stepped aside. Suddenly Lewis was running towards them and skidded to a halt.

"You can't go in the water", Lewis said to Ash.

"It's all right, he knows", Zane said reassuringly to Lewis who sighed in relief.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Ash asked exasperatedly.

"We can explain at my house, my dad is away on a business trip", Zane replied.

Lewis and Ash agreed, and after thanking his brother for the lesson, the trio left the beach and headed to Zane's house.

 

When they arrived, about twenty minutes later, Lewis and Ash gaped at Zane's home. Although Zane described it as a house, it looked more like a mansion. The place was huge, and Lewis and Ash saw that there was even a pool in the garden.

Zane had pushed the gate open, and was half way to the door when he realised that Ash and Lewis were no longer behind him. Zane turned around, "Are you guys coming, or what?" He asked.

Lewis snapped out of his thoughts, he and Ash followed Zane to the door. They went to the living room and Lewis sat down on a sofa, while Zane and Ash remained standing. The room was very big, with a huge flat screen TV directly opposite where Lewis was sitting. There was an expensive looking coffee table, in the middle of the room, and there were two other large sofas to the side almost forming a circle around the table.

Ash turned to Lewis, "So are you going to tell me why I can't touch water?" He inquired.

Before Lewis could answer, Zane grabbed a glass of water he had left on the coffee table and threw it at Ash.

"Zane", Lewis scolded.

"What?" Zane asked innocently, Ash glared at him.

"Ash, you may want to sit down on the floor", said Lewis.

"Why would I-", Ash began but was cut off when his body turned into bubbles and water. Lewis caught Ash before he could fall to the floor, Lewis lowered him down gently and stood next to Zane.

Ash gaped at his tail, which looked a lot like Lewis'. "How is this possible?" Ash asked.

After Ash had transformed back, by drying himself with a towel that Zane had lent him, Lewis explained his theory about the bubble whirlpool that had surrounded them on Mako. "There's something else you guys should know, I can move things with my mind", said Lewis. Zane and Ash stared at him.

"Watch this", Lewis said. He raised his hand, so that it was directly in front of a cushion on the sofa that Lewis had previously sat on. He concentrated on the pillow and willed it to move towards him, which it did. "See, isn't this so cool?" Lewis said.

"Yeah", said Zane.

When Lewis had put the cushion back down on the sofa, Zane and Ash tried to move a pillow with their minds but found that they couldn't.

"Maybe we each have different powers that will show themselves", Lewis suggested comfortingly.

"Maybe", said Ash sounding disappointed.

"Come on, let's do some research", Lewis said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"On what?" Zane asked.

Lewis looked at Zane incredulously, "On mermen, duh".

"Oh right, yeah let's do that", Zane said sheepishly.

They spent the rest of the day hanging out in Zane's mansion, and researching mermen.

 

The next morning, Lewis found himself walking to the Juicenet Café with Cleo. They were talking about plans for the rest of the holiday.

"I'm just staying at home, because we went on holiday last year", Cleo said.

Before Lewis could respond, he heard a loud noise behind them. Lewis and Cleo managed to avoid being run over by a motorcycle, by just a few seconds. Lewis had pulled Cleo with him to the right and dodged the motorcycle.

"Are you ok?" Lewis asked Cleo as they went back on to the path.

"Yeah, I think so", Cleo replied shakily.

The figure turned the motorbike around to face Cleo and Lewis, and took off his helmet.

"Nate! What did you do that for?" Lewis asked angrily.

"I don't take to kindly to being humiliated!" Nate shouted back.

"It was your own fault", Lewis countered. There was a hose next to them on the grass, and it was shaking violently but Zane and Cleo hadn't noticed. Lewis looked at the hose and he used his mind to turn it to face Nate.

"You know, Zane can't be there to protect you 24/7 Lewis. One of these days something bad will happen to you-", Nate said but was cut off when water shot out of the hose, and hit him with so much force that Nate was thrown of the bike. Lewis and Cleo gaped at the sight.

Lewis had somehow controlled the water, he panicked and ran back to his house leaving Cleo staring at Nate in shock.

 

As soon as Lewis arrived at his house, he asked Zane and Ash to come round to his house. Fortunately, his parents and brothers were out so apart from Lewis the house was empty. Ash and Zane arrived at the house ten minutes later, and sat down in the living room, so that Lewis could explain what happened with Nate.

"I can't believe Nate, he could have gotten you and Cleo killed", said Ash furiously.

"Don't be so hard on Nate", Zane said trying to defend his friend.

"Don't be so hard on- did you not here me when I said that he could have killed Lewis and Cleo?" Ash said angrily.

"Guys! It's okay", said Lewis effectively ending the argument.

"So you actually controlled water?" Ash asked still glaring at Zane.

"Yeah I think my powers are growing, watch this", Lewis responded. He raised his hand in front of his glass of water that was on the coffee table, and moved his hand in a certain way which caused the water to form a spiral that rose high up. Lewis managed to hold the water there for a few minutes, but lost control and it was about to fall on Ash. But he raised his right arm to protect himself, and the water turned into ice.

Ash lowered his arm and looked at the ice spiral, "Did I do that?" Ash inquired.

Zane turned to Lewis raising his eyebrows.

"Not guilty", said Lewis raising his hands in a surrendering stance.

"It wasn't me, so it must have been you", said Zane to Ash. Zane raised his hand and tried to do something to the spiral, but nothing happened. He tried three more times, but was unsuccessful. Zane slumped his shoulders feeling disappointed, "That's not fair, why do you guys get cool superpowers and I don't?"

"Our powers took a while to develop, maybe yours will show themselves over time", Lewis replied trying to reassure Zane.

"I hope you're right", said Zane gloomily.

"Listen, no one can know about this", said Ash.

"But I tell my dad everything", said Lewis.

"Not this time", said Zane.

Ash turned to Lewis, "If we are discovered we will be turned into science experiments, and I don't know about you guys but I don't want that to happen".

Lewis sighed, "You're right".

"This is our secret, we have to stick together", said Ash.

"That doesn't mean we have to get married does it?" Zane asked causing Ash and Lewis to burst into laughter.

"Now that was funny", said Ash grinning at Zane who smiled widely back.

"You know what guys? I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship", said Lewis as he put his arms around Zane and Ash.


	3. Chapter 3

Lewis was at Zane's house with Ash discussing their new predicament. Ash had asked how long it took for the transformation to take place, he and Zane had turned to Lewis expecting him to know the answer.

"I don't know everything you know", said Lewis exasperatedly.

"Really? I thought you did", said Zane cheekily.

"Yeah, Lenny said that you're a walking encyclopaedia", Ash added.

Lewis scowled at them, he folded his arms and didn't say anything for a minute but gave in, "I think it takes about ten seconds", he said.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" Said Zane patting Lewis' shoulder.

"I think we should find out for certain though, I know a secluded part of the beach we could go to", Lewis said excitedly.

"Great, I'm in. What about you Ash?" Zane asked turning to Ash.

"No way, I'm not going anywhere near water again", replied Ash firmly.

"Come on, you have to face your fear some time", said Zane.

"Last time I tried that, our secret was nearly exposed", Ash countered.

"Zane's got a point Ash, you'll miss out on a lot if you don't face your fear, but it's your choice", said Lewis.

"You're right, but I'm just not ready to go near water right now", said Ash.

"Ok, but when you are ready we will help you face your fear", said Lewis encouragingly.

"Thanks", said Ash smiling at Lewis.

"Yeah, and you can stay here if you want", said Zane.

"Thanks, but it is my shift at the café in twenty minutes", Ash explained.

"No problem", said Zane grinning at Ash.

The three of them left the mansion and went their separate ways.

 

Lewis led Zane to the secluded part of the beach, and they both started walking towards the water. Zane and Lewis glanced at each other.

"Moment of truth", said Zane.

"Yeah, I'll count", Lewis said.

They both walked into the water, when seven seconds had gone by and nothing happened Zane said, "You know, our transformations could have been a fluke. Maybe they aren't-" He was cut off by his transformation.

Lewis felt the same tingling, but magical feeling again and he was lying on his front in the water in the form of a merman.

"Or not", said Zane.

"I was right, it took exactly ten seconds to transform", Lewis informed.

"Great, that gives us plenty of time to run for it", Zane said sarcastically.

"With practise we'll manage, and we can help each other", said Lewis.

"What if we are alone?" Zane asked anxiously.

"Make sure you always carry a towel?" Said Lewis grinning.

"Is that supposed to be a reference to something?" Said Zane.

"Don't tell me you have never read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"", Lewis said incredulously.

"In case you hadn't noticed, reading isn't exactly my thing", said Zane.

"Well, it should be. You need to at least watch the film", said Lewis.

"Whatever Captain Kirk, want to go for a swim?" Zane said.

"Definitely", Lewis replied not realising Zane had said that to change the subject.

Lewis and Zane dived into the ocean, during their swim they saw many amazing sea creatures. After about ten minutes of swimming they came across a dolphin.

Lewis was about to approach the dolphin, when Zane stopped him with a concerned expression. Lewis gave him a look which said "I'll be fine", after a few moments of hesitation Zane let go of Lewis but stayed close behind him to make sure that he was safe. Lewis swam towards the dolphin cautiously, and raised his hand so that it was at the same level as the dolphin's head. He waited wanting the dolphin to make the first move, after a few moments of hesitation the dolphin allowed Lewis to stroke his head. Lewis turned to look at Zane and smiled at him triumphantly.

Zane smiled back trying to hide his relief that Lewis hadn't been hurt. Zane swam to Lewis' side and also began to stroke the dolphin. After a while many more dolphins joined them, and they spent hours swimming happily together.

 

Meanwhile, Ash was on his way to the café to do his shift. He saw two girls walking ahead of him in the same direction, he recognised them as Emma Gilbert and Cleo Setori. They were his classmates in school, however he and Emma didn't get on very well. At the café the two of them managed to get into arguments about everything, from what should be on the menu to what the uniform for the staff should be. His musings were interrupted when he felt a man bang into him.

"Hey, watch were you're going!" Ash shouted after him.

The man ignored him and continued running. Everything he was wearing was black, including his shoes. He also banged into Emma which caused her to lose her balance and nock into Cleo and she fell over on her side. The man sped across the rode without being hit by any cars. Emma wasn't so lucky. She was about to fall onto the road just as a car was driving by. Ash felt a strange sensation and time slowed down as he ran to save Emma. When he reached her, Ash grabbed Emma's waist and pulled her away from the road. As soon as they were out of harm's way, time went back to normal.

Emma stared at Ash as though seeing him for the first time, she had never realised how beautiful his eyes were until that moment. Emma hugged him tightly, breathing heavily still in shock. "Thank you", she whispered.

"You're welcome", Ash said softly hugging her back.

"Are you alright?" Cleo asked breaking the spell.

"Yeah", Emma replied suddenly releasing Ash smiling sheepishly at him.

Ash returned the smile, "Shall we-"Ash began to say but was cut off when his boss from the café ran over.

"Are you all, all-right? I saw what happened", Wilfred said his voice full of concern.

"Yeah, we're okay", Cleo said as she put a comforting arm around Emma, who smiled gratefully at her.

Wilfred sighed in relief, "Good, listen the three of you have had quite a shock. Why don't you take the day off?"

"Are you sure sir?" Ash asked surprised.

"Of course, and how many times to I have to tell you, call me Wilfred", he replied smiling at Ash.

"Thanks sir, I mean Wilfred", Ash said returning the smile.

"No worries, you and Emma can swap shifts with Izzy and Lucy I hope you recover from your adventure, and I will see you on Monday", said Wilfred.

Ash, Emma and Cleo all thanked Wilfred, and headed off to Emma's house. During the journey Cleo and Ash comforted Emma, who was still shaking. When they arrived at her house, Ash sat down on the sofa next to Emma.

"I'm going to get some lemonade and cookies", Cleo announced and went to the kitchen.

Although the house was huge it was very cosy. Ash looked around the living room and saw photos of Emma, along with her family and friends. He could see a swimming pool in the garden, and decided to use that to try and distract Emma from her ordeal.

"So you like swimming?" Ash asked.

Thankfully, this had the effect Ash wanted. Emma glanced at the pool, turned back to Ash and nodded eagerly.

"I love it, I have won a lot of swimming competitions and I'm training for one coming up soon", Emma told him smiling brightly.

"That's great", Ash said genuinely impressed, he wished he could swim. But ever since he was small he had been terrified of water.

"What about you, do you swim?" Emma asked him.

"No, I'm um...scared of water", Ash said rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I could help you get over your fear if you want", Emma offered putting her hand on Ash's arm to comfort him.

Ash smiled at her, "Thank you, but I'm not ready to face water yet", he said. Ash wished he could accept her offer, he wanted to spend more time with Emma. But he couldn't let her discover his secret, because if she did she could find out about Lewis and Zane. Ash believed that Emma would keep their secret, but it wasn't just his secret to tell.

"Hey guys, I have lemonade and cookies", Cleo said brightly and sat down on the other side of Emma.

Ash and Emma thanked her and drank some of their lemonade.

"School starts next week, I'm so excited", said Cleo.

"You're starting to sound like Lewis", Ash said.

Cleo blushed at his comment and looked away.

"I can't wait for school too", said Emma.

"Seriously?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's going to be great", Emma replied with a big grin.

"If you say so", Ash said sounding unconvinced.

"Do you guys feel like swimming? I bet it will make Emma feel better", Cleo said.

Emma saw a flash of fear on Ash's face before he tried to compose himself. She wanted to help Ash get over his fear, but she also didn't want to force him to face it. "I'm feeling tired I'd rather watch a movie".

"Ok, a movie it is. Any preference?" Cleo asked.

"How about the third Harry Potter film?" Emma suggested.

Cleo and Ash both agreed, and Cleo went to find the film.

Ash smiled gratefully at Emma, "Thanks for covering for me".

"No problem", Emma said smiling back at Ash.

They spent most of the afternoon watching the film. After the end of the movie, the trio talked for an hour before it was time for Ash and Cleo to leave. Emma walked them to the door.

"Thanks for everything", Emma said to them.

"You're welcome", Cleo and Ash said at the same time.

Emma hugged Cleo and then Ash.

Ash turned to leave but Emma caught his wrist and hugged him again. "Thank you for saving my life", Emma whispered.

"You're welcome", Ash said.

When the hug was over they smiled at each other, Ash got lost in the beauty of Emma's eyes and only came back to reality when Cleo tapped his arm.

"Time to go Ash", Cleo said.

Ash said goodbye to Emma and left with Cleo.

 

Meanwhile, Johnny Brooks was on his way to his bosses' office. He was feeling both nervous and excited. For he had managed to complete the task his boss had set him. On the other hand, Johnny's boss was notorious for being quick to lose his temper. He approached Mandy his bosses' assistant so that she could let him in his office. Over the weeks that Johnny had worked with Mandy, he had developed romantic feelings for her and hoped that his relationship with Mandy would become something more than friendship.

Mandy looked up to see Johnny walking towards her with a nervous smile. She smiled warmly at him, and was delighted to see him smile brightly back. Unbeknownst to Johnny, she felt the same way, she had had fallen in love with Johnny the moment they met, the way he smiled at her made her feel content and always lifted her spirits when she was feeling down. Mandy longed for something to happen between them. As he reached her desk she wanted to hold his hand, but she was worried about how Johnny would react so she stopped herself doing so. "How can I help you Johnny?" Mandy asked.

"Mr Drake wants to see me", Johnny replied.

"Ok, I will let him know", Mandy said and called Mr Drake on her phone. "You may go in".

"Thank you", Johnny said, he smiled at her once more and walked into the office.

When Johnny had entered the office he saw that Mr Drake was on the phone to someone, he motioned to Johnny to sit down and he did so.

"But I have proof", Damien Drake said sounding frustrated, he drummed his fingers on the table while he listened to his boss.

"That's what you said last time Drake, and it turned out you didn't have any at all and you made us look like fools", Kevin Davison said equally irritated.

"It was stolen from me! But I will be more careful this time and I won't let you down. Please sir, give me one more chance", Damien said.

"Alright, but this is your last chance. Is that understood?" Kevin said sternly.

"Yes, thank you sir", Damien said and ended the call. He put the phone down with a sigh. "Please tell me you have something Brooks".

"I do sir", Johnny said taking a tube of blood out of his pocket and handed it to his boss.

Damien stared at it gleefully, he finally had the proof he needed.

As Johnny watched Mr Drake examine the tube, he initially felt pride at having achieved his goal. But the way his eyes bore into the tube made Johnny feel uncomfortable and he was starting to regret giving Drake the tube. His next words sent chills through Johnny.

"One down, two to go".


	4. Chapter 4

The boys were at Zane's house in the living room, Lewis and Zane had told Ash that it did take 10 seconds to transform to merman form and that they had discovered that they could swim super-fast, they were discussing how Ash had saved Emma.

"That was amazing Ash", Lewis said and Zane nodded grinning.

"Thanks, I think I have gained a new power", Ash said excitedly.

"Yeah, slowing down time. That should help if you get splashed, and it would be great if it develops and you are able to stop time that would definitely help", Lewis added eagerly.

"Yeah, I just need to practice", Ash agreed.

"How come you guys get two powers, and I don't have any it's not fair", Zane complained.

"I'm sure your powers will show themselves soon don't worry", Ash said in an attempt to comfort Zane.

"I hope so", Zane said sounding disappointed.

"Hey, there's going to be a science fair on this afternoon, would you guys like to go to that?" Lewis asked to change the subject.

"A science fair? Seriously?" Zane questioned incredulously.

"Yeah, it will be educational and fun" Lewis replied.

"Maybe to you, I would much rather go to the Juicenet Café. What do you say?" Zane said.

"Fine", Lewis replied reluctantly.

"Awesome, what about you Ash?" Zane asked. Ash didn't reply he was staring into space.

"Hello, is anyone in there?" Zane asked poking Ash's head.

Ash jumped startled, "Huh?" He inquired.

"Would you like to go the Juicenet Café with us?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah, that sounds cool", Ash replied still in a daze.

"Hey, what were you thinking about?" Zane queried poking Ash's arm.

"Nothing, and don't poke me", Ash retorted.

Zane ignored Ash's request and continued to poke him, "I won't stop poking you until you tell us what you were thinking about", Zane replied with a smirk.

"Stop it!" Ash said and tried to move away from Zane but was unable to prevent Zane poking him. "Lewis make him stop", he said irritably trying to ignore Zane's laughter.

"Sorry Ash, I'm with Zane on this one", Lewis said.

"Nice one buddy", Zane said happily and high fived Lewis.

"Okay, Okay, I'll tell you, just stop poking me", Zane reluctantly did so.

"I was thinking about Emma", Ash said grudgingly, "Before yesterday, we didn't get on so I haven't had a chance to get to know her. What is she like?"

"Very annoying", Zane said.

"But she was very nice to me yesterday", Ash protested.

"Ignore Zane Ash, she's very friendly", Lewis said reassuringly.

"So you like her?" Zane asked smirking.

"Not like that", Ash replied too quickly.

"Really?" Zane said sounding unconvinced.

"How about we head to the café? Ash said before Zane could say anything else.

 

They set off for the café, unfortunately Zane wouldn't let the subject of Ash's crush on Emma go and the two bickered about it the whole way to the café, while Lewis tried unsuccessfully to stop them arguing. It didn't take them too long to get there, and when they arrived they sat in a booth next to a window.

Emma walked towards them, when she reached them she smiled, "Can I get you guys anything?" She asked.

The boys gave her their orders and after smiling at them once more went to get their drinks.

Ash was staring at Emma's retreating figure, she was so beautiful and he-

"Earth to Ash", Zane said waving his hand in front of him, he was opposite Ash so he had to lean forward to do this.

"What?" Ash asked startled.

"You zoned out again", Lewis said patting his shoulder sympathetically.

"Oh, sorry", Ash said.

After a few minutes Emma returned with their drinks, they thanked her for the drinks. Emma and Ash's eyes locked for a few moments until Emma broke eye contact, she smiled at Ash and walked away.

"Dude you need to ask Emma out", Zane said grinning at Ash.

"I can't", Ash protested.

"Of course you can, she really likes you", Zane said.

"Really?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, Zane is right Ash", Lewis said.

Before Ash could reply Miriam came to their table, "Hey Zane, do you want to come to our table? Miriam asked gesturing to the table where her two best friends were sitting.

"Sorry, I'm with Lewis and Ash", Zane replied.

"Come on, surely you don't want to hang out with these losers", Miriam said surprised.

"They are not losers!" Zane said angrily as his hands clenched into fists.

"The smoothie is bubbling", Lewis said in amazement.

Zane unclenched his fists and the bubbling stopped, Zane took a sip and jumped, "It's hot".

"There must be something wrong with the drink", Miriam said.

"Yeah, there must be", Zane said sharing knowing smiles with Lewis and Ash.

"You sure you don't want to join us Zane?" Miriam asked.

"Yeah, but thanks anyway", Zane said trying to remain calm down, so that he wouldn't draw anymore unwanted attention.

"Fine, your loss", Miriam said and walked back to the table.

"Yes, I finally have a super power!" Zane exclaimed.

"That's great Zane, I told you your powers would show themselves", Ash said.

"Yeah, hey we need to work on controlling our powers. We need to have complete control over them before school, or we could end up exposing ourselves", Lewis said.

"Yeah, your right Lewis, we could go to my house later and start practising, everyone's out", Ash suggested.

"Yeah, that's sounds great", Zane replied excitedly and Lewis agreed.

Zane ordered a new drink and they continued discussing Zane's newfound power and how they would practice controlling their powers.

After a while of talking, Emma came to give Zane his drink, but as she was about to give it to him, Nate walked towards them, and bumped into Emma which caused her to spill the drink on Zane.

Ash and Lewis looked at Zane in horror, because they knew what was about to happen.

"Hey watch where you are going!" Emma called to Nate as he walked away.

Zane looked frantically at the bathroom and the storeroom, but people had gone in both rooms. He jumped from his seat and sprinted out of the café, he ran as fast as he could to the beach. He had nearly reached the ocean but only had a few seconds left, he put on an extra burst of speed and managed to reach the sea just in time. He transformed into a merman as soon as he had jumped into the water, he super sped to the moon pool.

When he arrived he was breathing heavily, his heart still pounding from the danger of nearly being exposed. After he had calmed down he looked around the cave, he realised that it was beautiful and peaceful. And had an air of magic about it, he rested against the surface for a while. And then he turned around and left the pool to swim super-fast to the secluded part of the beach so that he could return to the café.

Meanwhile, Lewis reached for his phone to call Zane. After a few seconds Zane answered the phone.

"Zane, are you ok?" Lewis asked concerned.

"Yeah, I managed to get to the sea in time. I'm on my way back to the café", Zane replied.

"I'm glad you're ok", Lewis said with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, hey we should check out the moon pool later it's great in there", Zane said.

"Yeah, that sounds cool", Lewis said.

"Ok, see you in a bit", Zane said and hung up.

About five minutes later Zane came back in and sat back in his original seat.

Emma came over with Zane's replacement drink, "I'm sorry about your drink, here's your replacement".

"Thanks, don't worry it wasn't your fault", Zane said and smiled reassuringly.

Emma smiled back and smiled at Ash who smiled back, before serving another customer.

"Are you okay Zane?" Ash asked.

"Yeah thanks, while I was swimming I went to the moon pool and-"

"Wait, moon pool?" Ash asked confused.

"Yeah, you know? The place where we transformed", Zane explained whispering the last word.

"Oh I see", Ash replied in understanding.

"Why are we calling it the moon pool?" Lewis inquired grinning.

"Because we were in the pool and there was a moon duh! Anyway as I was saying, I think we should go back there, the moon pool is really cool" Zane said excitedly.

"I'm not sure if that is such a good idea", Ash said nervously.

"Come on Ash, it'll be fun", said Zane.

"You can borrow my boat to get there, and you don't have to go into the water", Lewis reasoned.

Ash sighed he really didn't want to go, but he knew he had to get over his fear of water so he agreed to Zane's delight.

 

The trio finished their drinks and left the café and went to the moon pool. Zane and Lewis super sped there in the sea, while Ash used Lewis' boat. When they got there, Zane and Lewis leaned against the edge of the pool, while Ash sat on the floor opposite them.

"See, isn't this cool?" Zane said happily.

"For once I agree with you", Ash said grinning at Zane.

"We should come back here more often", Lewis said.

"Yeah, hey we should make this our HQ", Zane said.

"Our HQ?" Lewis asked.

"You know, Head Quarters", Zane explained.

"I know what it means", Lewis said irritably. "But are you sure that is a good idea? What if people come down here and see us?" Lewis said.

"He has a point", Ash said.

"But people don't usually come here because Mako Island is surrounded by sharks. This place would be great, we could come here to discuss merman stuff, or other things, or we could just come here if we needed some time alone", Zane said.

"I suppose that is true", Lewis said slowly thinking it over.

"Great, so are we making this our HQ?" Zane asked excitedly.

Ash and Lewis both nodded their agreement, which made Zane very happy. The boys talked for a couple of hours before they decided it was time to go home.


End file.
